U.S. National Laboratory On Space Station Could Be Open For Use By Others

The U.S. laboratory being added to the International Space Station (ISS) is to become a national laboratory, and a portion of it is to be opened to other agencies and the private sector, according to NASA.

That lab presents an opportunity to expand the US economy in space-based research, applications and operations. It also provides a highly visible national asset with surplus capacity available for a wide spectrum of applications, according to the space agency. NASA will continue to cover cost of operating and maintaining the ISS, and wishes to work with other agencies and organizations to pursue applications. The agency now is deciding how best to utilize the station, such as considering what experiments might profitably be performed in the weightless environment.